


Where My Demons Hide

by tiny_septic_box_sam



Category: Darkiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Horror, Ouija Board, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 05:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8434189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_septic_box_sam/pseuds/tiny_septic_box_sam
Summary: “Hey! Dark and evil spirits! Anyone wanna tussle with the likes of us?!”	He waited. Tyler was clearly trying not to laugh. Then, slowly but surely, the planchette drifted over and covered the word yes.	Mark and Tyler stared at each other, each daring the other to admit they’d moved it. Tyler shrugged.	“Uh…who’re we talking to?” Tyler asked the universe, an amused smile playing at his lips.	The planchette didn’t hesitate. It drifted across the letters quickly, so quickly that Mark barely had time to read the message aloud to the audience.	C-A-L-L M-E D-A-R-K





	

Where My Demons Hide

 

            “Hey guys, what’s up? Happy Halloween!”

            Mark was facing the camera with a grin on his face. Tyler sat across the table from him. They had some candles lit between them, but they didn’t offer enough light to illuminate the entire capture, so they’d set up some stage lights behind the tripod. The bright glow of the lightbulbs seared his vision. He tried not to squint.

            “So today, _Tyler_ over here came up with the wonderful idea to use a spirit board on camera,” Mark announced, “because why the fuck not, apparently.”

            Tyler laughed, the picture of ease. Mark envied his confidence.

            “What are you, chicken?” he jeered, his elbows resting comfortably on the table. “These things are total crap anyway, you know that.”

            “Well, I mean….”

            Tyler raised his eyebrows, and his smile widened. “Do you actually believe in these things, dude?”

            Mark shrugged, his eyes darting to the Ouija board with a spark of unease. “Well, I…I’m not saying I _don’t_ believe in them.”

            “We got this from a fucking toy store, dude.”

            “Yeah, I know! I’m just saying anything could happen.”

            He looked at Tyler, whose stare clearly begged the question _Are you just hamming this shit up for the video?_

Mark wished he were. He’d felt uncomfortable with the situation ever since Tyler had brought the game home from Target. Sure, it was probably a piece of junk, but still… _what if?_

It was a stupid fear to have, and Mark knew it. So he plastered a smile onto his face and rolled his eyes, as if to say, _Yes, duh. I’m not a pussy._

“Anyway,” he continued, addressing the camera once more, “we’re gonna try this thing out and see if we can find any _spooky scary spirits_ in my house.”

            Tyler chuckled. “Dude, this is either gonna be really dumb or really bad.”

            _Yeah, no fucking joke._

Tyler fished the planchette out of the box while Mark explained how to use a Ouija board to the camera. They knew the stupid basics: don’t play alone, don’t let go of the planchette until you’re done playing, blah blah blah.

            “We may not even upload this video, depending on if anything interesting actually happens,” he finished up while Tyler prepared the setup. “So if anyone’s watching this, I guess something at least vaguely spooky is gonna happen.”

            “Yeah, so be warned,” Tyler added on. “And don’t go looking in the comments for jumpscare warnings. That’s cheating.”

            Mark’s heart skipped a beat. Swallowing, he turned back to the board and placed his fingertips on the planchette. Tyler copied him. They looked at each other for a moment.

            “Uh…are you gonna start it?” Mark asked him.

            “Why do _I_ have to start it? This is your channel.”

            “Well this was _your_ bullshit idea, so you get to carry it out.”

            Tyler shrugged and began swirling the planchette around. Mark was pretty sure that wasn’t how you used it, but he didn’t correct him.

            “Uh…O Spirit Realm, my name is Tyler and this is my friend Mark. Do you have any ghosts that wanna say hi?”

            Mark was still nervous, but he couldn’t help giggling. “That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, dude.”

            They stopped moving the planchette and stared at it for a moment. It sat as still as a stone.

            “Guess that’s a no,” Tyler said with a laugh.

            “C’mon, let’s try again,” Mark urged. Even if they had to fake it, he at least wanted to get one interesting shot out of this video. “ _Hey! Dark and evil spirits!_ Anyone wanna tussle with the likes of us?!”

            He waited. Tyler was clearly trying not to laugh. Then, slowly but surely, the planchette drifted over and covered the word _yes_.

            Mark and Tyler stared at each other, each daring the other to admit they’d moved it. Tyler shrugged.

            “Uh…who’re we talking to?” Tyler asked the universe, an amused smile playing at his lips.

            The planchette didn’t hesitate. It drifted across the letters quickly, so quickly that Mark barely had time to read the message aloud to the audience.

            _C-A-L-L M-E D-A-R-K_

            “…‘Call me Dark?’” he echoed with a frown. “The fuck kinda name is that?”

            The planchette leapt into action with much more fervor than before. It moved with speed that Tyler clearly wasn’t putting behind it with his barely-touching fingertips.

            _W-A-T-C-H Y-O-U-R T-O-N-E_

Tyler glanced up at Mark confusedly. “Dude, are you fucking with me right now?”

            Mark didn’t answer. The planchette sat still, a sleeping predator waiting for the next moment to act.

            “I, uh…well who are you, Dark?” he asked aloud, not knowing what to believe.

            The planchette moved methodically, as if a third hand were guiding it across the board.

            _A-N O-L-D F-R-I-E-N-D O-F Y-O-U-R-S_

Mark’s frown deepened. “Tyler, if you’re kidding with me, it’s not funny,” he said seriously.

            “Shut up, dude. I know you’re doing it.”

            Mark had a few dead loved ones, but none of them would say things like this to him if they were still alive. He stared at Tyler hard, searching for a lie. Tyler looked somewhere between confused and a little entertained, as if he still believed this was a joke.

            “I don’t know anyone named Dark,” Mark announced.

            _I H-A-V-E B-E-E-N W-A-T-C-H-I-N-G Y-O-U_

“Tyler, cut it the fuck out.”

            “I’m not doing anything, dude!” Tyler sounded pretty defensive. Mark’s heart began to pound.

            The planchette began moving again. Tyler crossed his arms over his chest, seeming fed up with the nonsense.

            _I K-N-O-W W-H-O Y-O-U A-R-E_

The room around Mark seemed to spin. He looked up and around. His surroundings were distorting. Tyler stared back at him, his form fuzzy and elongated like a funhouse mirror reflection.

            “Mark, what are you doing?” His voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.

            _I K-N-O-W W-H-A-T Y-O-U F-E-E-L_

Mark couldn’t see the Ouija board anymore, though he could still feel the planchette under his fingers. The words were being spoken aloud now, somewhere between a whisper and a growl. Mark swung his head wildly, searching for the source.

            _I H-A-V-E K-N-O-W-N Y-O-U A-L-L Y-O-U-R L-I-F-E_

Behind Tyler, amidst the warped image that used to be Mark’s office space, a shape began to congeal. It was tall and gangly, with arms that hung almost all the way down to its ankles, and fingers that ended in sharp, knifelike points.

            _I H-A-V-E W-A-I-T-E-D F-O-R T-H-I-S D-A-Y F-O-R A L-O-N-G T-I-M-E_

Mark gulped hard. He wanted to ask what day he’d been waiting for, but when he opened his mouth he found that his voice was gone. The shadowy shape firmed up into a pitch-black form with a hollow smile. It didn’t move its lips to speak.

            _I H-A-V-E A-L-W-A-Y-S W-A-N-T-E-D T-O S-P-E-A-K W-I-T-H Y-O-U_

 _Why?_ Mark thought, feeling faint. Either he was hallucinating so much that he was going to pass out, or the world was actually ending and he was about to die.

            _B-E-C-A-U-S-E Y-O-U-R B-O-D-Y I-S S-O B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L_

The creature strode forward, passing through the blob that used to be Tyler and the table, and two spider-like hands gripped Mark’s shoulders and forced him backwards, tumbling through time and space and not hitting the floor.

            Mark closed his eyes, turning end over end, but when he opened him he was right back in the same chair he’d always been in, his fingertips still lightly touching the planchette. Tyler was staring at him in what looked like annoyance.

            “Look dude, if you didn’t wanna do this you should’ve just said something,” he snapped. “Your joke isn’t funny.”

            Mark’s head felt fuzzy and strange. “But I didn’t….”

            “Forget it. I’ll shut the camera off. Just find some stupid horror game to play. If you didn’t want my help, you shouldn’t have asked for it.” Grumbling, Tyler stood up, flicked the camera off, and strode out the door without another word.

            “But didn’t you…see any of that?” Mark asked aloud, even though Tyler was already gone. He stood up and backed away from the Ouija board slowly, his skin still crawling. It must’ve all been…a dream? A hallucination? Had someone slipped him something?

            He backed into the wall. He was covered in goosebumps from head to toe, and he was covered in gross, sticky sweat. He bunched up the bottom of his T-shirt in his hands and wiped his forehead with it.

            When he lowered his T-shirt and opened his eyes, he was standing eye-to-eye with himself. For half a second he thought he was looking in a mirror, but then the copy smiled, and Mark realized that its eyes were some swirling mixture of red and black, and its smile was cracked jaggedly into its cheeks on both sides like a broken doll’s.

            Mark practically threw up. He tried to back away, but the imposter grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him firmly in place, eyeballing him up and down with a kind of sadistic hunger, like a jungle cat playing with its prey.

            _T-H-A-N-K-S F-O-R T-H-E B-O-D-Y_ , it intoned, its mouth frozen in an unmoving grin. _I N-E-V-E-R C-O-U-L-D H-A-V-E R-E-P-L-I-C-A-T-E-D O-N-E W-I-T-H-O-U-T A H-O-S-T._

“Wh…what the fuck?” Mark stammered, his voice airy and weak with fear.

            _Y-O-U A-R-E S-P-E-E-C-H-L-E-S-S._ It grew somehow more condescending. _I K-N-O-W I-T I-S N-O-T P-E-R-F-E-C-T, B-U-T C-O-M-E N-O-W. I D-I-D M-Y B-E-S-T C-R-E-A-T-I-N-G I-T. H-A-V-E S-O-M-E M-A-N-N-E-R-S._

“What are you?” Mark demanded. “Are you a demon?”

            The smile vanished, and the creature angrily dug its talons further into Mark’s neck, closing his throat. Black dots danced in Mark’s vision as he felt his knees buckle.

            _T-O-O M-A-N-Y Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N-S_ , it growled as Mark sank to the floor in a dead faint. _I A-M N-E-I-T-H-E-R D-E-M-O-N N-O-R A-N-G-E-L._

_J-U-S-T C-A-L-L M-E D-A-R-K._

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Darkiplier story! Happy Halloween!
> 
> I'll add more to this note when I'm not about to be late for work. XD


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